Saturday, August 30, 2008

<em>Paris</em> Screenings Pulled :: Hollywood Elsewhere: "Some kind of intense drama is happening with Toronto Film Festival screenings of Adria Petty's Paris, Not France, a documentary about Paris Hilton. Two out of three public screenings have been cancelled, and both press screenings have also been jettisoned."

E Ink, an electronic paper developer, has taken the technology it used in devices such as the Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) Latest News about Amazon.com Kindle and Sony (NYSE: SNE) Latest News about Sony eReader to develop a version of the technology for use on the Esquire cover.

The resulting cover, hitting newsstands in September, will feature words and images that scroll across the flexible electronic page. In addition, the inside cover will offer readers their first e-paper advertisement, with automaker Ford pitching its new Flex vehicle in a double-page ad."

Bollywood producers defend 'Hari Puttar' film: "The makers of Bollywood film 'Hari Puttar,' which has prompted a lawsuit by Hollywood studio Warner Bros, say the flick has nothing in common with the Harry Potter movie series.

The Hollywood studio, which owns the rights to the boy wizard movies, has taken the Indian producers to court over the film's title, which it says sounds like Harry Potter.

'Our film bears no resemblance to the Hollywood film Harry Potter and it is a completely different story,' said Munish Purii, chief operating officer of Mumbai-based production house Mirchi Movies Ltd, late on Friday."

Friday, August 29, 2008

I don't mention reviews often, but this one over at Gravetapping pretty much gets to the heart of what I try to do in the Sheriff Rhodes books. I couldn't have put it better myself.

Gravetapping: RED, WHITE, AND BLUE MURDER by Bill Crider: "Red, White, and Blue Murder is the first of Bill Crider’s novels I have read and it was better than I imagined. It is a unique blend of whodunit and American style hardboiled—probably something like 75% of the former, and 25% of the later. The whodunit part is the comfortable setting, the townspeople—pestering, conniving, kind, and likable. It is a place the reader would love to visit, and in a literary manner, it is a place you have been before, but not for a very long time."

Some sick tales ready to bust out like they were left in a car with the windows rolled up on a hot-as-balls afternoon: Tony Black, Kyle Minor, Jedidiah Ayres, Kent Gowran, Glenn Gray, Mark Joseph Kiewlak, Fred Snyder, and Garnett Elliot. Yeah, smells funky, right?"

News from The Associated Press: "WOBURN, Mass. (AP) -- An author who fabricated a best-selling memoir about surviving the Holocaust by living with wolves asked a judge Thursday to affirm a $32.4 million jury award in her favor.

Misha Defonseca said her publisher is too late to try to overturn the 2001 verdict the author and her ghost writer won in a fight over the book's profits."

cbs13.com - Zodiac Killer's Identity And Weapon Uncovered?: "Reporting Kris PickelSACRAMENTO (CBS13) ― The Zodiac Killer attacked at least eight people, terrorizing the Bay Area and taunting police in the 60's and 70's. Thursday, the FBI confirmed to CBS13 they are now running laboratory tests on some items that may link a suspect to the killer.

The evidence was given to the FBI by a Pollock Pines man who also claims he recently found the disguise worn by the Zodiac Killer during one of his attacks."

Will Howard has created TEXAS BLOG NOTES, which "is a storage place for the e-book Texas Historical and Literary Blogs - 2008, and a place for further notes or discussion of blogs of meaningful contribution to quality life, understanding, and literature of Texas. My blog is included in the list (which has links), along with many others on many Texas topics (literature, history, art, and so on). Some great stuff. Take a look.

Identity Theft: WHH Ranch Company Uses Shredded Checks As Package Cushioning: "A Texas cannery has been using shredded checks from the local bank as packing materials for the past twenty years. The WHH Ranch Company claims that Michelle McBride of Kansas is the only customer to ever complain about the checks, which plainly displayed routing and account numbers for hospitals, medicare, schools, businesses, and personal accounts."

But Mary MacDonald, who offered up this surprising fact, has quite the opposite reaction.

'People have been eating insects for a very long time,' says Ms. MacDonald, a naturalist who works with the Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History. 'You're already eating bugs, and they're a great source of protein. So why not try them?'"

Bridge of Birds is likely to have been overlooked by mystery readers because it's a fantasy novel set in "an Ancient China that never was." But it's a lot more than that. It's also an adventure, a quest, and a mystery. Its narrator, Number 10 Ox, is the Watson to Master Li's Holmes. Li is a master of deduction, albeit with "a slight flaw in his character."

Love, death, myth, monsters, mayhem (lots), and wonderful writing all combine to make this book, for me, unforgettable. I was reminded of it recently because I received an e-mail from Subterranean Press, which is about to release an omnibus volume that will include all three novels about Master Li and Number 10 Ox (Bridge of Birds, The Story of the Stone, and Eight Skilled Gentlemen). While the latter two aren't quite as wonderful as the first, they're still well worth your time.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

The Anahuac Progress: "Come to Texas GATORFEST 2008 where a weekend of family fun, food and entertainment awaits one and all at historic Fort Anahuac Park. Texas GATORFEST is truly the most unique festival in the state, combining the alligator and family fun for a good old Texas two-stepping good time! Witness the Great Texas Alligator Roundup, take and airboat ride or a river boat tour, enjoy four stages of entertainment, Texas Artisans, merchants and the scenic waterfront beer garden.

Take a whirl on the adult carnival rides and treat the kids to the kiddie rides, pony rides and petting zoo. On Saturday and Sunday, witness the Great Texas Alligator Roundup and visit the Alligator Education Tent to get an up close and personal view of live gators, which outnumber Chambers County citizens by almost 3 to 1.

Texas GATORFEST 2008 kicks off Friday night, September 12th with the festival gates opening at 6 pm. A variety of attractions and entertainment including a street dance featuring Al White and Chaparral that will continue until 12 midnight. The festival continues on Saturday, September 13th from 10 am until 12 midnight with a main stage entertainment line up including Casey Donahew, Wade Bowen and Randy Rogers Band. Sunday’s GATORFEST opens from 12 noon until 6 pm with head liners The Zydeco Dots, Hunter Hayes and Wayne Toups taking the main stage."

Swedish sea monster 'caught on film' - The Local: "A group of filmmakers claim to have successfully captured Sweden’s legendary Great Lake Sea Monster (Storsjoodjuret), which is said to lurk in the waters of the Storsjon outside Ostersund in northern Sweden.

A film crew which set up cameras on one of the lake’s islets last spring now say that they have an image of the seamonster, according to Svergies Television.

The film clip shows a blurry, long and narrow silhouette moving in the lake’s depths."

The Bouchercon panels are all listed here. To save you the time of looking, mine are on Thursday at 8:30 [GOLDEN YEARS (David Bowie) Age is Just a Number. Maggie Toussaint(M), Bill Crider, Robin Hathaway, Sophie Littlefield, Frederick Ramsay] and Friday at 3:00 [MONEY BACK GUARANTEE (5 Man Electric Band) Books We Love that You Should Too. Dana Kaye(M), Patti Abbott, Lee Child, Bill Crider, Rae Helmsworth, Ali Karim]. Why they put me on that first one is a mystery to me. I hope to see many of you there, however.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Bone Parts Don't Add Up To Conclusion Of Hobbit-like Palauan Dwarfs: "ScienceDaily (Aug. 27, 2008) — Misinterpreted fragments of leg bones, teeth and brow ridges found in Palau appear to be an archaeologist's undoing, according to researchers at three institutions. They say that the so-called dwarfs of these Micronesian islands actually were modern, normal-sized hunters and gatherers."

Instead of kicking down doors earlier this month, the officers knocked at homes in the Chelsea subdivision, which city officials say is infamous for its crack houses and yards piled with debris and old cars.

Eight officers are spearheading an experiment aimed at improving conditions in the community by enforcing city codes.

The city replaced civilian code enforcement officers with police officers after finding that residents tended to ignore civilian officials, who must go through a lengthy process to force compliance, said George Fuller, city director of community development.

Police officers can issue a ticket on the spot or make an arrest if needed, Fuller said.

'It's a very unique approach to a common problem,' he said. 'We're just trying a pilot program to see if it works.'"

It was Thursday night, about 8:10 p.m., and Mitchell Siegel, a Jewish immigrant from Lithuania, was in his secondhand clothing store on the near East Side. According to a police report, three men entered. One asked to see a suit of clothes and walked out without paying for it. In the commotion of the robbery, Siegel, 60, fell to the ground and died."

Sasquatch and Bigfoot Meet Serious Science | Newsweek Animals and Pets | Newsweek.com: "These are hard times for Bigfoot believers, a human subspecies that includes a fairly hairy collection of fantasists, charlatans, grifters and fools. But there is also a small coterie of serious scientists interested in the possibility—as they see it, the likelihood—that somewhere in the deep woods of North America enormous ape-men really are alive and well and just barely eluding detection."

The top 10 films about campaigns: "With bloated staffs and citizens e-mailing opinions 24/7, Barack Obama and John McCain probably don't feel the need for any more advice. But the presidential candidates could learn a thing or two by watching the best of the movies that have been made about political campaigns."

But that is an honor rightfully shared with Errol Flynn. This unruly Australian-born star lent his immense popularity to three hugely successful westerns in a row, beginning with “Dodge City,” released in April 1939, a month after “Stagecoach,” and continuing in 1940 with “Virginia City” and “Santa Fe Trail.” (“Stagecoach” was itself preceded by Henry King’s Technicolor “Jesse James,” released in January 1939, starring Tyrone Power.)"

Monday, August 25, 2008

Steve Lewis, over at Mystery*File, is reprinting (with permission) some of the reviews from Bill Pronzini and Marcia Muller's 1001 Midnights. Looks as if the first reprint was written by someone we know.

'Popcorn is a contentious issue. Lots of people absolutely hate it and have asked us to ban it, so we're going to do exactly that,' said Gabriel Swartland, head of media at the Picturehouse Cinema, a chain that comprises 19 Picturehouse-branded screens across the country, . . ."

Lee praised the authentic-looking boots and other lifelike features of his cowboys.

'You can draw,' he said, 'I'll give you that.'

Those words granted Sitton membership in 1948 into Timely Comics' artists bullpen. During the next six years, he was one of dozens of artists at Timely, later renamed Marvel, who drew dueling cowboys, fedora-wearing mystery men and embracing lovers. Superheroes were not in his repertoire."

A LIVING LEGEND AT AGE 12- NOLA.com: "One minute, Devin Funck was a typical kid living a typical life in suburban Slidell, spending a lazy summer afternoon swimming with four friends in a lake near his home. The next minute, he was being dragged by his arm through the waters of Crystal Lake, fighting a 500-pound alligator named Big Joe with all the tenacity a 12-year-old boy could muster.

'It was Godzilla,' he would recall of the monster that ripped off and swallowed his left arm in the July 30 attack.

By the day's end, doctors at Ochsner Medical Center broke the news to Devin and his parents that they could not reattach his arm, which authorities had retrieved after hunting down the alligator and killing it."